Tag Archives: dialysis community

Undergoing dialysis treatment is something that will definitely change your life. As we have mentioned here on numerous occasions at Joe Cosgrove’s blog, living with dialysis has a lot to do with adjusting to the new definition of what you consider normal in your daily routine and the way you look at life in general. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that everything you enjoy doing has to stop because of your treatment and that you simply have to adjust to a life that excludes you from things like traveling, eating anything you want and working like everyone else. Dialysis simply becomes part of who you are and the way you go about those activities that bring you joy is just a bit different, even more fulfilling at times.

One of the biggest challenges of living with dialysis is probably one of the things that has to do the least with the treatment itself, and that is accepting it. Dialysis is a big word that conjures up images of sickness, needles, hospitals and pain; most of that has to do with a bad reputation that it has acquired over the years and just the ignorance sported by the general population when it comes to kidney disease. These types of treatment exist to make you better and every single day there are brilliant minds and large amounts of resources working hard at advancing this processes even more with the aid of cutting-edge technology in an attempt to give patients a better quality of life and a warmer acceptance of what living with dialysis means.

Today on our blog, we want to talk a little about the beginning of your life with dialysis and what you should expect in the first couple of months while you get used to it so you can make the best out of this challenging time in your life.

Understand the alternative

Dialysis is a relatively new treatment and before that, there was nothing that you could do for patients with kidney failure, something that pretty much meant that you were looking forward to an extreme decline of your health and most likely dying from your condition. Today dialysis can not only keep you alive, but it can do with while giving you a considerable quality of life as it becomes such a manageable part of you, that you will simply come to live with it seamlessly.

The dialyzer has limits

The machine that is helping you clean your blood during the dialysis treatment is not a magical device that can completely replace your kidneys. Kidneys are truly remarkable organs and are able to withstand a lot of damage before failing, they are truly irreparable and no machine exists that can do what they do as well as they do it. Understanding that is crucial for you to realize that while internally there isn’t much else you can do to help your kidneys other than undergoing the treatment, externally there is a lot you can do to compensate for the dialyzer shortcomings. Things like eating healthy, exercising and taking care of yourself so as to alleviate the stress your body has to go through are great ways to making sure that all your efforts are directed towards making the treatment work as well as it possibly can.

Find ways to make yourself comfortable

Yes, you are just lying down and reading or watching TV waiting for the treatment to be over, but as you are apparently relaxed and not doing much, your body is working overtime dealing with everything that is going on. Your blood is being extracted, cleaned and then pumped back into your body constantly during a session that may last up to four hours, this means that your body has to take all these in and push itself to compensate. It is very common to feel tired even if you think you did nothing during the day. Give your body time to get used to the changes.

Lean on your support network

Give the people in your life who care about you the opportunity to be there with you and to participate in whichever way you think it will make the process easier for you. Those around are also affected in their own way, so make sure you don’t neglect this support network and allow it to help you get through the tough times. People in the dialysis community are also very supportive of new members and will answer your questions and take you in if you need anything. You should take advantage of their experience and knowledge dealing with dialysis and even share with them the ways that you are making it work for yourself. Remember you are not alone in this and the condition can be a bonding experience with your family, friends and other loved ones.